Like its relative Alumen, Alumina produces irritation of mucous membranes with
dryness or extreme secretion and paralysis of involuntary muscles, as those of the rectum
and of the nervous and muscular systems generally. Alumina
paralyses the bowels in the same way as lead, to which it is an antidote. Even small and
soft stools are passed with great difficulty. Pregnant women and children are liable to this
kind of constipation. A very prominent characteristic is that a person must strain at stool in order to urinate.
Teste groups Alumina with Sepia
and Copaiva. He considers it the chronic of Sepia as Silic. is of Puls. Paralysis of the internal rectus muscle of the eye, causing
squint. Also ptosis. Drawing, pains appear in the limbs; a sensation of constriction in
several organs. Several painful symptoms show themselves after the midday meal, and continue
till evening, when they disappear or are replaced by others which begin only then. On the
other hand the pains which appear in the morning or in the evening are abated after eating.
Trembling, convulsive movements of the limbs and head; spasms, with tears and laughter
alternately. There is exaltation of the whole nervous system. Trembling of the whole body
with desire to lie down, which, however, < the
fatigue. Great general fatigue, even after a short walk, but chiefly after speaking.
Frequent stretching while sitting. The nates go to sleep while sitting. Drags legs
(especially left). Many of the symptoms of locomotor ataxy are reproduced by Alumina, and it is one of the most useful remedies in that
disease. Bťnninghausen cured a case with Aluminium.
Sluggishness of action is characteristic of this medicine; urine is slow in passing; great
straining to pass even a soft stool; can only evacuate bowels when standing; has to strain
as if abdomen and rectum were paralysed. (Caust. has
defecation only when standing; but the straining is less.) Sensations are slow in being
transmitted to the centres. In the mental sphere there is confusion. "When he says
anything he feels as if another person had said it, and when he sees anything, as if another
person had seen it, or as if he could transfer himself into another, and only then could
see." A feeling of hurry follows, things do not move fast enough. Impulses. Suicidal
tendency, a sudden impulse from seeing blood on a knife. Sad; apprehensive; wants to
getaway; fears going crazy. Mental symptoms mostly come on in the morning on waking. Vertigo
on closing eyes. Catarrh is a very general feature. Catarrh with dryness of mucous
membranes. The throat looks parched and glazed. The nose is stopped, feels dry, and the
point of it is cracked. Alm. has the fish-bone sensation
in the throat on swallowing. There is profuse leucorrhťa running down to the heels,
sometimes excoriating. As with the mucous membrane so with the skin: itching eruptions < from warmth of bed. Eruptions of all kinds, indurations,
ulcers. Granular eyelids. Hairs fall out all over body. The skin of the face feels as if
covered with dried white of egg, or as if a cobweb was on it. Fissures. Alumina has some curious symptoms in the digestive sphere. There
is a craving for dry rice and dry food. It has < from
starch, especially the starch of potatoes. < From
salt, wine, vinegar, spirits. Burning pains in the back are very characteristic, and
especially a sensation as if a hot iron were forced through the lower vertebrŠ.

There are pulsations in various parts. The pains go upward. Upper left;
lower right affected (opposite of Lyc.).

The symptoms are < on alternate
days; periodically. Guernsey describes a characteristic periodicity thus: "Patient gets
along nicely for a time, then, from no apparent cause, gets worse for a time, then better,
and soon a relapse may be worse than the original illness, another relapse not so bad, and
so on with longer intervals between." In afternoons; at new or full moon; < in the morning on waking. <
After coitus. < In cold air, out of doors; in dry
weather. They are > by cold washing; by moistening
the part; by warm food or drink; by warmth generally.

Alumina

is suited to
persons of sedentary habits who suffer from chronic ailments; to constitutions with
diminished animal heat. Psoric persons. The action of Alumina
is slow in developing, and the remedy must not be changed quickly.

Humour morose, sad, with despair of
cure.─Involuntary tears.─Anguish and anxiety as if
one were threatened with some fatal accident, or had committed some crime.─Time
passes too slowly; intolerable ennui; an hour seems half a day.─Seeing
blood on a knife she has horrid ideas of killing herself, though she abhors the idea.─Apprehensions.─Disposition
to be frightened.─Air sorrowful and morose.─Ill-humour,
with unfitness for labour.─Disposition to be angry.─Obstinate,
and contradictory humour.─Taking everything in bad part.─Humour
changeable; at one time bold, at another timid.─Weakness of memory.─Distraction,
inadvertence, and incapability of following up an idea.─Absence of
ideas.─Blunders in speaking.─Great vivacity of
apprehension, alternately with inadvertence, and deprivation of sight and hearing.─Sensation,
as if self-consciousness were outside the body.

2. Head.─

Dizziness, whirling sensation,
everything turns in a circle, most frequently so as to cause falling; sometimes with nausea,
or tension in the nape of the neck; < before
breakfast; on opening eyes; when closing eyes.─Easily made drunk.─Vertigo,
with white stars before the eyes.─State of intoxication after smoking
tobacco, or after having taken the weakest spirituous drink, and principally in the morning.─Headache,
as if one were dragged by the hair; or smart shootings in the brain, with inclination to
vomit.─Stitches in the brain with nausea.─Heaviness
of the head, with paleness of face, and fatigue.─Compressive
cephalalgia.─Headache with constipation.─Headache
from chronic catarrhs in the head.─Beatings and pulsations in the head.─Congestion
of blood towards the eyes and nose, with pressure in the forehead and epistaxis, with a
chill when walking in the open air; better after lying or eating.─Headache
< while walking in the open air; > lying down, the head being softly supported.─Itching
in the forehead.─Pain, as from excoriation, in the scalp.─(Moist
crusts on the temples.).─Dryness of the hair.─Itching
in the scalp, with profuse desquamation.

3. Eyes.─

Pressure on the eyes, which renders it
impossible to open them.─Pressure, as from a grain of sand, in the
corner of the eye, in the evening.─Sensation of burning in the eyes,
with nocturnal agglutination of the lids, and diurnal lachrymation.─Sensation
of coldness in the eyes and eyelids on walking in open air.─Swelling of
the eyelids.─Paralysis of the upper lid.─Hordeolum.─Eyelashes
fall out.─Inclination to stare.─Spasmodic drawing of
the lids at night, with pain in the eyes on opening them.─Stitches in
the eyes.─Photophobia.─Confusion of sight, as from a
mist, and sparkling before the eyes.─Yellow aspect of all objects.─Coloured
reflection round the candle in the evening.─Strabismus of both eyes;
esp. loss of power of internal rectus.─Glittering before the eyes on
shutting them.─Far sight.

4. Ears.─

Shooting pains in the ears, principally
in the evening, or at night.─Stitches in the (l.) ear (evening).─Itching
and sensation of burning in the ears.─Frequently, in the evening, heat
and redness of one ear.─Purulent discharge from the ears.─Crackling
noise and buzzing in the ears, chiefly when chewing, but also on swallowing.

5. Nose.─

Pain in the root of the nose and in the
forehead.─Pain, swelling, and redness of the nose.─Soreness
and scabs in the nose, with discharge of thick yellow mucus.─Discharge
of solid, yellow, greenish substances from the nose.─Accumulation and
flow of a thick and yellowish matter from the nose.─Nostrils ulcerated.─Furunculus
in the nose.─OzŠna.─Blood from the nose when blown.─Epistaxis.─Sour
smell in the nose.─Smell either exceedingly delicate or weak.─Coryza,
with defluxion from one nostril, with stoppage of the other.─Coryza,
alternately dry and flowing.─Stoppage of the nose.

6. Face.─

Aspect gloomy, morose.─Rapid
alternation of redness and paleness of countenance.─Copper-like redness
of the cheeks, as in drunkards.─Tingling on the face, and tension of the
skin, as if it were covered with white of egg dried.─Sensation of
swelling, and of heaviness of countenance.─Bulbous swellings and
blood-boils on the face and nose.─Red painful spot on the cheek.─Roughness
of the skin of the face, esp. over the forehead.─Heat and redness.─Itching
and eruption of small pimples over the face.─Moist scabs on the temples.─Shooting
and drawing sensation in the cheek-bones.─Transient heat of face.─Furunculus
in the cheeks.─Leprous tubercles in the face.─Lips
dry, and cracked, with exfoliation of the skin.─Swelling of the lips.─Pimples
and scabby eruptions on the lips.─Swelling of the jaws, with tensive
pain on opening the mouth, and on chewing.─Shortening of the lower jaw.─Involuntary
spasmodic twitching of lower jaw.─Trismus.

7. Teeth.─

Pains in the teeth on chewing, or in
the evening, in bed.─Tearing in the teeth, extending to other parts, as
far as the zygomatic bone, and in the forehead and temples.─Piercing
pain in the carious teeth.─Ulceration of the roots of the teeth.─Ulcer
on the gums.─Swelling of the gums, which have a tendency to bleed.─Sensation
as though the teeth were elongated.─Odontalgia, with nervous irritation,
as after a chill, or after the use of Chamomilla.

8. Mouth.─

Pain as of excoriation in the mouth,
palate, tongue, and gums, which almost prevents eating.─Small ulcers in
the mouth.─Dryness of the mouth, chiefly on waking.─Accumulation
of a sweetish or sour saliva in the mouth, like actual salivation.─Musty
or putrid smell from the mouth.─Tongue loaded with a black or yellowish
coating.─Expectoration of bloody mucus.

9. Throat.─

Sore throat, which is aggravated in
the evening and at night, but which is ameliorated on taking anything warm, and which is
less painful in the morning.─Contractive, or shooting pains in the
throat, chiefly on swallowing.─Difficult deglutition, as if the gullet
were contracted.─Cramp-like pressure and squeezing in the ťsophagus.─Sensation,
as if the ťsophagus were contracted when swallowing a small morsel of food; it is felt
until it enters into the stomach.─Pains in throat < evening and night.─Swelling of the
tonsils.─Great dryness in the throat.─Accumulation
of a thick and viscous mucus in the throat, with difficult expectoration.─Painful
ulcers in the fauces, secreting a brown, badly-smelling pus.─Sensation
of a splinter in the throat.

10. Appetite.─

Sweetish taste, or a taste of blood
in the mouth.─Rough taste, astringent, or bitter and insipid.─Bulimy.─Irregular
appetite; at one time too strong, at another too weak.─Food appears
insipid, esp. in the evening, and principally bread and meat.─Distaste
for animal food.─Craving, with want of appetite.─Appetite
for dry foods; for starch; chalk; clean white rags; charcoal; cloves; acids; coffee or tea
grounds; dry rice.─Desire for hot drinks.─Desire for
vegetables, for fruits, and spoon meats.─After having eaten, and chiefly
in the evening, hiccough, pressure in the stomach and abdomen, distaste, nausea, and
lassitude.─Potatoes excite nausea and bitter eructations.─All
irritating things immediately start cough.

11. Stomach.─

Eructations, sour and acrid, and
pyrosis.─Chronic tendency to eructation.─Frequent
eructations.─Nausea, with faintness.─Frequent nausea
and inclination to vomit, chiefly when speaking, when re-entering the room after walking,
and in the morning.─Pressure in the stomach, chiefly in the evening and
after eating.─Contraction and constriction in the region of the stomach,
often as far as the throat and breast, and sometimes with difficult respiration.─Pain,
as from excoriation, in the pit of the stomach and in the hypochondria, principally on
turning the body in bed, or on stooping.

12. Abdomen.─

Painful sensibility of the liver on
stooping, followed sometimes by shooting pains.─Colic whenever the body
is exposed to a chill.─Colic with drawing pains, principally in the
evening, or at night, or after dinner.─Cutting pains, chiefly in the
morning.─Flatulent colic.─The colic is ameliorated
by heat applied externally.─Painter's colic.─Protrusion
and incarceration of inguinal hernia.

13. Stool and Anus.─

Stools hard, unfrequent, and
scanty, sometimes with pain in the anus.─Constipation and obstruction of
the abdomen.─Difficult stool, from inactivity of the intestines.─Difficult
evacuations from want of peristaltic motion of the intestines; even the soft stool can only
be passed by great pressing.─Constipation of pregnant women, children,
and painters.─No desire for, and no ability to pass stool, until there
is a large accumulation.─Hard, knotty stools, covered with mucus.─Small
stools, sometimes like pipe stems (also Phosphor.).─Voiding of much
slimy matter with the stool, during the continuance of colic.─Loose
stools with pain in the belly and tenesmus.─Green stools in summer
complaints.─Loss of blood during and after the stools.─Burning
and itching in the anus.─Blind piles protrude, become moist, with
lancinating pain; are hard and itch.─Pressure and shooting pain in the
perinŠum.

14. Urinary Organs.─

Pain in the kidneys,
principally when walking or stooping.─Sensation of weakness in the
bladder and in the genital parts.─Eager desire to make water, with
increased aqueous evacuation, accompanied sometimes by a sensation of burning.─Frequent
ineffectual desire to urinate: the urine can only be passed during a stool.─Urine
less copious, with red and sandy sediment.─Nocturnal urination.─Urine
turbid, white, as if chalk had been put into it.─Thick whitish sediment
in the urine.

15. Male Sexual Organs.─

Sexual desire increased;
or suppressed.─Frequent pollutions and nocturnal erections.─Copious
secretion behind the glans.─Excoriation of the prepuce.─Contractive
pain in the spermatic cord, with contraction of the testicle.─Hardness
and painful sensibility in one of the testes.─Flowing of prostate fluid
during difficult stools.─Pains in the perinŠum, during coition, and
while the erection continues.─Increase of suffering after pollution.─Sweat
on perinŠum at beginning of erection or during coition.

16. Female Sexual Organs.─

Menstruation scanty,
too early, and of short duration; blood pale.─Menses too copious, with
inflation of the abdomen.─During the period of menstruation, sleep
agitated, with many dreams, great activity in the circulation, heat in the face, headache,
and palpitation of the heart.─Before and during menstruation, colics,
headaches, and other painful affections.─After the menses great fatigue.─Corrosive
leucorrhťa, with smarting in the genital parts.─Leucorrhťa before or
after the menses, and often with trembling, fatigue, and colic.─Leucorrhťa
flesh-coloured, or aqueous, and causing stiffness of the linen; transparent mucus before and
after menstruation.

17. Respiratory Organs.─

Dry cough, principally in
the morning, sometimes, at a later period, followed by expectoration.─Short,
dry cough.─Dry, short cough, esp. in the morning, with dyspnťa.─All
irritating foods immediately start cough.─Cough with impeded
respiration, or with pains in the head and at the nape of the neck.─Catarrh
of the larynx and of the bronchi, with scraping sensation in the throat.─Sudden
taking cold, with loss of voice, morning and evening.

18. Chest.─

Oppression at the chest.─Dyspnťa
when seated.─Nocturnal pressure in the chest.─Sensation
of constriction in the chest, chiefly when seated in a bending attitude, or while stooping.─Pain,
as of excoriation, in the chest and in the pit of the stomach, sometimes with cough.─Pain
in the sternum on touching it.

19. Heart.─

Palpitation and shocks at the heart.─Palpitation
every morning on waking; irregular beats.─Wakes 4 to 5 a.m. with anxiety
at heart, > immediately after rising.

20. Neck and Back.─

Itching of nape of neck and
throat.─Stitches in nape.─Pain in the loins during
repose.─Pain like that of a bruise in the loins and in the back.─Shooting
pains in the back.─Sensation in the back as if it were pierced with a
hot iron; through the lower vertebrŠ.

22. Upper Limbs.─

Pains in the arms while kept
hanging down or extended on the bed.─Tearing in the arms from the
shoulder to the fingers.─Pain, as if burned by a hot iron, in the elbows
and the fingers.─Paralytic weight in the arms.─Swelling
of the arm and the fingers.─Tetters and moist scabs on the forearms.─Mealy
desquamation of the hands.─Fissures in the hands, which readily bleed.─Gnawing
pain under the nails, sometimes with tingling in the arm.─The nails have
a tendency to break when they are cut.─Panaris.

23. Lower Limbs.─

Stiffness, numbness, and
insensibility of the legs at night.─Sensation of tearing in almost all
parts of the lower limbs.─Great heaviness and weakness of the legs,
chiefly in the hips.─When sitting, the nates go to sleep.─Drawing
pain in the knees when going upstairs.─Tension in the calves when
walking, and cramps on crossing the legs and on resting the toes on the ground.─Pain
as from fatigue in the joints of the feet when seated.─Pains in the
soles of the feet when walking.─Cold in the feet.─Itching
and redness in the toes, as if from chilblains.─Sensation of burning
under the toes.

24. Generalities.─

Pulling pains in the limbs.─Sensation
of constriction in internal organs (ťsophagus, stomach, rectum, bladder).─Aggravation
of suffering from potatoes, and often on alternate days.─Several painful
symptoms show themselves after dinner, and continue till evening, when they disappear, or
are replaced by others, which begin only then.─The pains which appear in
the morning, or in the evening, are abated after eating.─Suffering in
consequence of disappointments.─Trembling and convulsive movements of
the limbs, and even of the head.─Great heaviness in the legs and arms.─Spasms,
with tears and laughter alternately.─Exaltation of the whole nervous
system.─Illusive sensations; some parts of the body feel as if they had
become larger.─Trembling of the whole body, with desire to lie down,
which, however, increases the fatigue.─Great general fatigue, even after
a short walk, but principally after speaking.─Frequent stretching while
sitting.─Want of vital heat.

25. Skin.─

Miliary eruption in the arms and legs,
with much itching and serous bleeding after having scratched.─Chapped
skin and bulbous eruptions.─Boils or itching exanthemata on perinŠum.─The
slightest injuries of the skin smart, and become inflamed.─Leprous
pimples.─Scurf and tetters, which itch or become moist chiefly in the
evening.─Renewal of cutaneous symptoms at every new or full moon.─Rhagades.─Brittle
nails.

26. Sleep.─

Sleep tardy, and wakefulness before
midnight.─Restless sleep, always awakening with palpitation of the
heart.─Nocturnal sleep too light, agitated, with frequent starts.─Deep
sleep, not refreshing, with a desire in the morning to sleep more.─Frequent
waking in the night.─Dreams frequent, anxious, with talking, laughter,
tears, lamentations, groans, and somnambulism.─Dreams of horses, of
quarrels, and of vexations, of fire, of marriages, of spectres, of death, of robbers.─Dreams,
with fear of death after waking.─Nightmare.─During
the night, anxiety, agitation, and tossing about; or heat, toothache, headache, spasms, and
oppression of the chest, or diarrhťa, with pains in the stomach, and shiverings.─After
sleep, on waking in the morning, mind weighed down by vexatious ideas, or nausea, with
insipidity in the stomach, and feverish movements.

27. Fever.─

Pulse full and accelerated.─Shivering,
even when near a fire, and at night, in bed, not able to warm oneself.─Fever
towards the evening, with predominant chilliness.─Sensation of cold
immediately after taking soup at midday.─During the day chill; during
the night, fever.─Heat in the evening which spreads from the face; at
times only over the r. side of the body.─Perspiration at night, or more
towards morning, in bed; mostly in the face, or on one side of the face.─Inability
to perspire.